It has been particularly insane around the Braun house for the last three weeks. I am still adjusting to the kids being back at school. It feels like I barely have a moment to myself. Andrew's dose of daily homework borders on child labor and trying to get Jake to sit down to complete a simple workbook page that he could do with his eyes closed is like pulling the tooth of a rabid giraffe. He does a lot of flailing around followed by heavy dramatic sighs about the injustice of being 6 years old. All the while Andrew sits Zen like at the kitchen table finishing his hundredth math problem.
In the last few weeks I have learned the necessity of adding art to everything school related for Jake. As long as I pull out the markers and say "let's draw a picture about this" he's into it. The art thing has actually worked wonders on his spelling ability. Last week it took him 4 days to learn his spelling words. This week it was only 2 days with the help of some crayon decorated flash cards. If only I knew this during the first two crucial weeks of school when I thought I might lose my mind entirely.
Apparently my kids are artistic, or so I was told at parent's night. I just about craped rainbows when Mr. Ash commented on how artistic Andrew and Jacob are. The joy that comment brought me borderd on insanity. It almost made up for the 15 minute humiliating public conversation about Jake's incessant thumb sucking and his odd habit of hiding under his desk when he doesn't feel like doing something. Due to a severe case of immaturity I almost laughed out loud at the very image of Jake hiding under his tiny desk thinking no one would notice a 40lb kid under there. A genius he is not. The only comment I could come up with was:
"wow…..our kid is weird."
I thought Aaron was also going to hide under a desk; that's how embarrassed he was. Later he told me to self edit. Note to self: when told your kid psychotically hides under desks come up with something more eloquent to say then "wow, weird!" I have a terrible habit of saying everything I think immediately without considering how dumb it sounds at the moment. Perhaps I have a mild case of Tourettes minus the swear words and mean comments (unless I have some booze in me). My brother's best friend growing up had tourettes and on a daily basis he called me Granny gray head fuckface until finally they medicated him and he decided to call me tinsel teeth instead. I actually preferred granny gray head fuckface because at least that had some originality.
Anyway, when we got home we spent a good half an hour discussing appropriate and inappropriate behavior with Jake and consequences along with drawing a list of family rules (because he is a visual kid). So hopefully the weird desk thing is behind us. I am sure he will pull some eqaully hysterical new stunts though. My kids sure do keep it interesting. I have a feeling this school year is going to have a lot of ups and downs.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Adventures in Braunland
We arrived home Sunday night from our annual family vacation. Our trips always involve camping because we are the kind of people that don't mind getting stinky.
The worst part about camping road trips is that when you get home there is no throwing yourself down on the coach to take in the greatness of your home, nor is there the automatic pleasure of viewing all 4 of the big brother episodes you missed. There are no refreshing immediate showers. Instead you are forced to unpack the contents of your car and clean out all the empty cups in the backseat, crumpled up food wrappers, and start on the truckful of dirty laundry.
Even with the filthy aftermath of the trip it's worth it. There is nothing I love more then road trips. We get to stop at kitschy little spots and visit towns and cities that normally we never would. It's like a fun little glimpse into other people's lives.
The thing I love most of all about road trip are the books we read. The kids got to hear charlottes' web and we also read the life of Andrew Jackson. I finished a tree grows in Brooklyn and David Sedaris, me talk pretty one day. There is nothing better then books and the open road.
On day two of our trip, Aaron announced that all of our lives are increasingly more and more exciting due to the spontaneousness of him. I got a great big long chuckle out of that one. He went into a 30 minute rant about how incredibly spontaneous he is. All of this was said we'll he peered at a map planning out the quickest and safest way to the nearest grocery store to pick up some mustard for the 2nd out of four of our preplanned camping meals. All the while he had our trip itinerary folded up neatly in his back pocket. Oh he is so spontaneous! I mentioned that perhaps I was the spontaneous one and so began the first of many arguments that occur when trapped in a vehicle with 4 other people.
However, I will say that the 6 ½ hour hike we went on the morning after arriving at big basin national park was pretty spontaneous. The kids and I thought that we were taking a leisurely hike to some nearby waterfalls. Aaron was well aware that it would be a lonnnnnnnnnng hike. I should have been clued into this when I saw him filling up our backpack with about 8 bottles of water. I was under the impression that he was being overly cautious, making sure we had enough water in the rare case we got lost in the forest. That's the Aaron I know and love. The one that packs matches, band aids, and toilet paper in our back packs just in case not the spontanoues one who leads us on a 6 1/2 hour outing in the great outdoors.
For the first couple of hours of hiking things went smoothly. The boys pretended they were warriors off to save their kingdom from the forest people. When that got old we looked for fairy and troll houses at the foot of redwood trees. I am almost certain that Jacob really believes in forest fairies and trolls because he took the game much more seriously then the rest of us.
The novelty of these games soon wore out. By the third hour Jake would periodically announce in his oh so dramatic way "I think I might die." Or "my leg is going to fall off!" also every ten minutes or so he would collapse to the ground and roll himself up into a little ball while stating very seriously that he just could not go on.
I managed to curb some of the whining by convincing the boys that grizzly bears are attracted to sound of whining because it's a similar sound that their baby cubs make (little did I know that I would be paying for my bear reference days later)
Amelia was the toughest in the pack. She would run down the trail and point out butterflies while singing her rendition of the wheels on the bus, the ABC's, and old McDonald. We rarely carried her. Mostly she wanted to walk. I think she had a ton of fun and I am really impressed at her ability to behave like the energizer bunny.
Andrew did a lot of complaining and belly aching but got over it when I told him he could be the leader of the Braun army. He loves power! In the end we survived and made our way safely back to our campsite. The kids fell asleep at 8 immediately after they got into there sleeping bags.
On the last night of our camping trip Andrew woke up in the middle of the night convinced that there was a bear outside his tent getting ready to eat him. I have to admit that I was slightly terrified, especially when I could not find our flash light and had to stumble around in the dark to try to soothe him. I think that at times I have similar fears as a child so it's almost riducoulus that I am in charge of three little people who need me when they are frightened. I managed to calm him down by convincing him that bears cannot open zippers to get inside tents. He soon fell asleep but I stayed up long after convinced that every little noise was a bear.
The worst part about camping road trips is that when you get home there is no throwing yourself down on the coach to take in the greatness of your home, nor is there the automatic pleasure of viewing all 4 of the big brother episodes you missed. There are no refreshing immediate showers. Instead you are forced to unpack the contents of your car and clean out all the empty cups in the backseat, crumpled up food wrappers, and start on the truckful of dirty laundry.
Even with the filthy aftermath of the trip it's worth it. There is nothing I love more then road trips. We get to stop at kitschy little spots and visit towns and cities that normally we never would. It's like a fun little glimpse into other people's lives.
The thing I love most of all about road trip are the books we read. The kids got to hear charlottes' web and we also read the life of Andrew Jackson. I finished a tree grows in Brooklyn and David Sedaris, me talk pretty one day. There is nothing better then books and the open road.
On day two of our trip, Aaron announced that all of our lives are increasingly more and more exciting due to the spontaneousness of him. I got a great big long chuckle out of that one. He went into a 30 minute rant about how incredibly spontaneous he is. All of this was said we'll he peered at a map planning out the quickest and safest way to the nearest grocery store to pick up some mustard for the 2nd out of four of our preplanned camping meals. All the while he had our trip itinerary folded up neatly in his back pocket. Oh he is so spontaneous! I mentioned that perhaps I was the spontaneous one and so began the first of many arguments that occur when trapped in a vehicle with 4 other people.
However, I will say that the 6 ½ hour hike we went on the morning after arriving at big basin national park was pretty spontaneous. The kids and I thought that we were taking a leisurely hike to some nearby waterfalls. Aaron was well aware that it would be a lonnnnnnnnnng hike. I should have been clued into this when I saw him filling up our backpack with about 8 bottles of water. I was under the impression that he was being overly cautious, making sure we had enough water in the rare case we got lost in the forest. That's the Aaron I know and love. The one that packs matches, band aids, and toilet paper in our back packs just in case not the spontanoues one who leads us on a 6 1/2 hour outing in the great outdoors.
For the first couple of hours of hiking things went smoothly. The boys pretended they were warriors off to save their kingdom from the forest people. When that got old we looked for fairy and troll houses at the foot of redwood trees. I am almost certain that Jacob really believes in forest fairies and trolls because he took the game much more seriously then the rest of us.
The novelty of these games soon wore out. By the third hour Jake would periodically announce in his oh so dramatic way "I think I might die." Or "my leg is going to fall off!" also every ten minutes or so he would collapse to the ground and roll himself up into a little ball while stating very seriously that he just could not go on.
I managed to curb some of the whining by convincing the boys that grizzly bears are attracted to sound of whining because it's a similar sound that their baby cubs make (little did I know that I would be paying for my bear reference days later)
Amelia was the toughest in the pack. She would run down the trail and point out butterflies while singing her rendition of the wheels on the bus, the ABC's, and old McDonald. We rarely carried her. Mostly she wanted to walk. I think she had a ton of fun and I am really impressed at her ability to behave like the energizer bunny.
Andrew did a lot of complaining and belly aching but got over it when I told him he could be the leader of the Braun army. He loves power! In the end we survived and made our way safely back to our campsite. The kids fell asleep at 8 immediately after they got into there sleeping bags.
On the last night of our camping trip Andrew woke up in the middle of the night convinced that there was a bear outside his tent getting ready to eat him. I have to admit that I was slightly terrified, especially when I could not find our flash light and had to stumble around in the dark to try to soothe him. I think that at times I have similar fears as a child so it's almost riducoulus that I am in charge of three little people who need me when they are frightened. I managed to calm him down by convincing him that bears cannot open zippers to get inside tents. He soon fell asleep but I stayed up long after convinced that every little noise was a bear.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Just plain gross
I would like to preface this journal entry by saying that I am not one of those annoying girly girly types. I am actually pretty tough. I don't mind getting dirty and I can kill spiders on my own. As a matter of fact I am pretty laid back about most of the stuff god throws at me except in the presence of birds. Even then I don't mind the little birds it's the big ones, like those crazy colorful parrots that people parade around on their shoulders, or filthy crows, pigeons, and sea gulls. I don't mind song birds much as long as they aren't flying anywhere near the vacinity of my head. What I am getting at is that I am chill, mostly.
Today I wasn't so chill. It all started at the mall. I was walking up one of those ramps to get to the top level of the mall when I heard the two dudes behind me snickering. One of them, said, in his oh so California way,
"Dude we should tell her." Snicker, snicker.
I knew they were talking about me. They had to be; who else could they possibly be snickering about. For an instant I paniced remembering my recent trip to the Nordstrom bathroom. My first thought was that I had tucked my dress into my underwear (which by the way are my ugliest pair of granny panties., floral print and oversized0.) I actually did that once during my senior year in high school. I walked all the way to my English class with one of my long hippie skirts tucked into my underwear before Katie Harken whispered
"Your butt is hanging out!"
Anyway, I causally did a butt check and thank god my dress was in tact. I brushed them off convincing myself that I was paranoid. Clearly they were not snickering at me.
Near the food court Jake kept hounding me for food
"I am hungry, so hungry!" he kept saying, not so casually hinting that he wanted some greasy mall food.
I gave in making one last pit stop before heading to the parking garage. We stopped at la salsa. That's where it all went down. While sitting outside patiently waiting for our grub I decided that my hair was in a way too sloppy bun. I took my rubber band out and ran my fingers through my hair to sweep it neatly back into a pony tail. That's when I felt it. It was some sort of lump.
"What the heck is that?" I thought to myself.
I ran my fingers through my hair a second time and felt "it" again. It was big! I was certain it had legs!
Oh. My. god. I began to panic.
"Jake is there a bug in my hair?" I shrieked in his direction. "Jake look at my hair!"
By that time the people at the table nextdoor were gawking. Jacob didn't move. He looked terrified!
"Jake!" I pleaded.
There was a look of sheer horror on his face.
"Get it out!" I hissed.
By the size of his pupils I realized that we were not dealing with your everyday, run of the mill bug! I turned to the table of teenage girls next to me. As casually as my situation permited me to be, I said,
"I think there is a humongous bug in my hair. Is there a humongous bug in my hair? If there is don't tell me because I think I might start screaming. Will one of you take it out? Please! Please!"
By that point I was begging and on the verge of tears, or a frantic break down that involved ripping out my hair, stripping, and finding the nearest fountain to bathe in. All I could think about was that there was no way in hell that I was touching anything that big thaht has decided to take up residency in my hair. One of the girls got up to look at my hair.
"Holy shit." She said "I'm going to need some napkins"
That was not what I wanted to hear.
"Do not tell me how big it is or what it is, until it is out because I think I am going to totally freak out!"
She grabbed a handful of napkins and pulled it out quickly and effortlessly. I mumbled something about her beng my hero and then asked
"What was it?".
"Some weird looking green beetle with wings. That thing was huge!"
Then it came back to me, the flying beetle on the 2nd floor near Arden b that Jake was mesmerized by. It was flying near us and then oddly disappeared, apparently into my hair. It had been in my hair for a good 15 minutes. Never again will I wear a bun for fear that another one will try to make a home in my hair. I will now have to add flying beetles to my list of phobias! Gross! Why does everything about my life have to be so hilarious?!
Today I wasn't so chill. It all started at the mall. I was walking up one of those ramps to get to the top level of the mall when I heard the two dudes behind me snickering. One of them, said, in his oh so California way,
"Dude we should tell her." Snicker, snicker.
I knew they were talking about me. They had to be; who else could they possibly be snickering about. For an instant I paniced remembering my recent trip to the Nordstrom bathroom. My first thought was that I had tucked my dress into my underwear (which by the way are my ugliest pair of granny panties., floral print and oversized0.) I actually did that once during my senior year in high school. I walked all the way to my English class with one of my long hippie skirts tucked into my underwear before Katie Harken whispered
"Your butt is hanging out!"
Anyway, I causally did a butt check and thank god my dress was in tact. I brushed them off convincing myself that I was paranoid. Clearly they were not snickering at me.
Near the food court Jake kept hounding me for food
"I am hungry, so hungry!" he kept saying, not so casually hinting that he wanted some greasy mall food.
I gave in making one last pit stop before heading to the parking garage. We stopped at la salsa. That's where it all went down. While sitting outside patiently waiting for our grub I decided that my hair was in a way too sloppy bun. I took my rubber band out and ran my fingers through my hair to sweep it neatly back into a pony tail. That's when I felt it. It was some sort of lump.
"What the heck is that?" I thought to myself.
I ran my fingers through my hair a second time and felt "it" again. It was big! I was certain it had legs!
Oh. My. god. I began to panic.
"Jake is there a bug in my hair?" I shrieked in his direction. "Jake look at my hair!"
By that time the people at the table nextdoor were gawking. Jacob didn't move. He looked terrified!
"Jake!" I pleaded.
There was a look of sheer horror on his face.
"Get it out!" I hissed.
By the size of his pupils I realized that we were not dealing with your everyday, run of the mill bug! I turned to the table of teenage girls next to me. As casually as my situation permited me to be, I said,
"I think there is a humongous bug in my hair. Is there a humongous bug in my hair? If there is don't tell me because I think I might start screaming. Will one of you take it out? Please! Please!"
By that point I was begging and on the verge of tears, or a frantic break down that involved ripping out my hair, stripping, and finding the nearest fountain to bathe in. All I could think about was that there was no way in hell that I was touching anything that big thaht has decided to take up residency in my hair. One of the girls got up to look at my hair.
"Holy shit." She said "I'm going to need some napkins"
That was not what I wanted to hear.
"Do not tell me how big it is or what it is, until it is out because I think I am going to totally freak out!"
She grabbed a handful of napkins and pulled it out quickly and effortlessly. I mumbled something about her beng my hero and then asked
"What was it?".
"Some weird looking green beetle with wings. That thing was huge!"
Then it came back to me, the flying beetle on the 2nd floor near Arden b that Jake was mesmerized by. It was flying near us and then oddly disappeared, apparently into my hair. It had been in my hair for a good 15 minutes. Never again will I wear a bun for fear that another one will try to make a home in my hair. I will now have to add flying beetles to my list of phobias! Gross! Why does everything about my life have to be so hilarious?!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
On strike
Amelia is on a napping strike. It started last week and has trickled into this week. Multiple times a day she will tell me
"no nap."
She is obsessed with having fun. I desperately need my down time especially in a house of four little people under the age of 8. I need her to nap like a frat house needs its beer bong. Naps are like crack. I neeeeeed them! It's when I get things done or when I get nothing at all done and sit on ass peacefully! For one whole hour, sometimes two, I get to relax for a moment uninterrupted from the dramatic pleas of two year olds. I love naps. Lehlahni, the little girl I baby-sit for almost always conks out for a nap without a problem as long as she has her two blankets and a pacifier. Amelia is much more challenging. She needs her pillow situated just so and her pink blanket not her purple one, and while I am at it her music box on, and her dog stuffed animal not her doll. While demanding all of these nap time essentials she looks at me like there is something seriously wrong with me. Like how could I have not known that today of all days she must have her black stuffed dog with the red collar. How stupid must I be for thinking her doll would suffice when clearly today she needs her dog! After all of that preparation she makes her way down stairs not 5 minutes after I have turned off her bedroom light. Casually she will say
"hey mom." She always has a cute little innocent smile on, along with that adorable bed tousled hair and will try to charm me with one of her toys by saying "I share with you."
She is one charming little manipulator. When I force her back up to her room there is always a big protest and crocodile tears.
After these little episodes she will take a fake nap for half an hour-45 minutes tops. Afterwards she has a severe case of the grouch. By the time 5 o'clock rolls around she is foaming at the mouth and has sprung a second head. Amelia is not cute without a nap. As result of the nap protest she lost it at the dinner table last night when I handed her a piece of bread instead of salad.
"Salad! Salad! I want salad, Saaaallllllllllllllaaaadddddddddd!!"
Our daughter is a psychopath. After the salad incident there was the shoe one, where I dared to put her shoes on her feet instead of allowing her to do it. Clearly that was the wrong thing to do.
Without her naps the girl is a wreck. At this rate she will be a frightening teen. When I envision my kids as teenagers I break out in a cold sweat. I was the most atrocious punk of a teen. I worry that I will be paid back in full with Amelia. She is two and already my teen years are looking good. I am in for it.
"no nap."
She is obsessed with having fun. I desperately need my down time especially in a house of four little people under the age of 8. I need her to nap like a frat house needs its beer bong. Naps are like crack. I neeeeeed them! It's when I get things done or when I get nothing at all done and sit on ass peacefully! For one whole hour, sometimes two, I get to relax for a moment uninterrupted from the dramatic pleas of two year olds. I love naps. Lehlahni, the little girl I baby-sit for almost always conks out for a nap without a problem as long as she has her two blankets and a pacifier. Amelia is much more challenging. She needs her pillow situated just so and her pink blanket not her purple one, and while I am at it her music box on, and her dog stuffed animal not her doll. While demanding all of these nap time essentials she looks at me like there is something seriously wrong with me. Like how could I have not known that today of all days she must have her black stuffed dog with the red collar. How stupid must I be for thinking her doll would suffice when clearly today she needs her dog! After all of that preparation she makes her way down stairs not 5 minutes after I have turned off her bedroom light. Casually she will say
"hey mom." She always has a cute little innocent smile on, along with that adorable bed tousled hair and will try to charm me with one of her toys by saying "I share with you."
She is one charming little manipulator. When I force her back up to her room there is always a big protest and crocodile tears.
After these little episodes she will take a fake nap for half an hour-45 minutes tops. Afterwards she has a severe case of the grouch. By the time 5 o'clock rolls around she is foaming at the mouth and has sprung a second head. Amelia is not cute without a nap. As result of the nap protest she lost it at the dinner table last night when I handed her a piece of bread instead of salad.
"Salad! Salad! I want salad, Saaaallllllllllllllaaaadddddddddd!!"
Our daughter is a psychopath. After the salad incident there was the shoe one, where I dared to put her shoes on her feet instead of allowing her to do it. Clearly that was the wrong thing to do.
Without her naps the girl is a wreck. At this rate she will be a frightening teen. When I envision my kids as teenagers I break out in a cold sweat. I was the most atrocious punk of a teen. I worry that I will be paid back in full with Amelia. She is two and already my teen years are looking good. I am in for it.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Camping again
This weekend we experienced the greatest camping trip of our lives. There were exactly three aspects that made it fantabulous.
1. The weather (beautiful)
2. Sammy (for being so funny and looking after the little ones)
3. The adventure
Camping with 8 children can have its ups and downs. There's the fighting, the name calling, the intake of way too many cookies and juice. There's the whining, the dirt and grim, the ganging up on one kid, and the temper tantrums. I think we have all finally gotten the swing of this camping thing. We have realized the importance of putting the kids to bed at a decent hour for some adult time. Most importantly we have learned that if given the oppurtunity all our kids can act like embarassing punks. We have finally gotten the hang of what kind of food to bring. The Lettows are good for their food, the Colts for Sammy (Amelia and Fletcher's adopted mommy) and the Braun's for our good looks and charm of course.
We surfed this weekend, we meaning the ladies, Nicole, Molly and I. It was a first for all of us. I think we were all kind of impressive for first timers. I was proud of myself for getting out there. I have this extreme fear of the ocean that wasn't helped by watching that frightening movie--Open Water, oh, and Jaws at the tender age of ten. I still sometimes hop into bed for fear that's jaws is underneath it trying to bit my ankles off.
There were a few moments out in the water where I thought I saw something swimming by me. I had to scream over to Aaron to stand by me and ask him if he thought I might be eaten alive by a man hungry shark. He thinks I'm crazy. I know that I am crazy. I think I am falling in love with surfing despite the whole shark thing.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
roughing it
Last weekend we went on our first camping trip of the summer. Oddly enough we camped in Santee, just a quick drive down the 52 from where we live. The kids had a great time catching tad poles in the lake and running around like little holligans. On Saturday morning Aaron came up with the genius idea to figure out if we could find a hiking trail that led to our house. Sure enough we found one. Aaron, Steve, 6 boys under the age of 12, and I, set out on a mini adventure. In all it took about 2 hours to get to Tierrasanta where we were able to eat otter pops from our fridge and swim in our pool, now if that's not roughing it I don't know what is.
Here are some photo's from our adventure:
David by far was the greatest little hiker in our group. He will be a future athlete for sure
Jamie and big jake. They are old enough to find hiking tiresome amd boring. We nicknamed them the my little ponies. We are mean!
These guys were nicknamed the hardcore group (minus Andrew who hung back with the my little ponies) because they kept up with the grown ups and didn't complain.
Mr. Braun
juice break
Scary trantula that Nicole, Aaron, and Steve found on the hike home.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
The single life
Aaron has been out on one of his dive trips since Monday. He was gone all of last week as well. I'm kind of over it. The kids started their summer break on Monday. Jake and Amelia are already at each others throats. Jake likes to play this game with her where he says,
"Your not Amelia, you're a ladybug, oh wait no you're a bee, or a ghost, no your a horse."
Amelia will scream and yell about how she is not any of those things she's Amelia! She gets really mad and kicks her little legs and crosses her arms. Jake loves it. There is nothing more enjoyable to him then making her freak out. As a result, Amelia will come up to me several times a day, for no reason at all just to let me know "I am Amelia." She will stand there patiently waiting for me to agree that she is in fact Amelia. Sometimes, because I have a mean streak, I will say something like "are you sure your Amelia, or are you a butterfly." This does not make her happy. I am a little bit evil.
I am not at all adjusted to life with the boys being around 24/7. My quiet house is filled with the loudness that two boys bring to a home. This afternoon I walked into the kitchen to find Jacob forcefully shoving popcorn into Amelia's tiny mouth.
"She wouldn't stop asking me for some of my popcorn so I decided to give her a lot."
I never thought I would ever have a conversation with him about overdosing his sister on popcorn. Jacob makes things interesting around here. He keeps me on my toes.
I feel like the boys constantly want to eat. They are always hanging out by the fridge looking to scarf something down. The other day Andrew told me he was so hungry he could eat Jacobs head.
I have not made a single dinner since the departure of Mr. Braun. On Monday we walked to the local Chinese joint. Its two blocks away and Andrew begged me to drive
"but its sooooooo far." he whined
If you strain your neck in our living room you can literally see it, it's not sooooo far!
The lady working the night shift seemed pretty put out when I said "for here" instead of to go. She snatched up all but one set of chopsticks from the table saying
"I don't want them", while motioning towards the boys, "sticking these up their noses."
Andrew was pretty outraged that she implied he would stick anything up his nose. Jacob thought it was downright hilarious. Because Andrew is 8 and can basically get away with saying anything that suits him in the moment he said very matter of factly
"why would someone stick chop sticks up their nose?"
Our waitress ignored him. I was wondering the same thing. I went ahead and assumed that perhaps our waitress had witnessed an extremely traumatic chop stick nostril moment. Maybe she has been marred by the experience leaving her to flinch at the very sight of chop sticks in little boy's hands.
When our food came the boys were pretty bummed out about not being able to eat with chop sticks. They always eat Chinese food with chopsticks. That's the fun in Chinese food. I motioned the waitress over and asked her to bring two more sets of chop sticks. She was annoyed and let out a irratated sigh.
I didn't care. I was glad that I was assertive enough to ask because I never am. Normally I would have just let her go on believing that all little boys shove chopsticks up their noses. Maybe I taught her a valuable lesson!
I only have one more day as a single parent. I'm looking forward to Aaron being back home so I can regain my sanity!
My little knuckle heads:
"Your not Amelia, you're a ladybug, oh wait no you're a bee, or a ghost, no your a horse."
Amelia will scream and yell about how she is not any of those things she's Amelia! She gets really mad and kicks her little legs and crosses her arms. Jake loves it. There is nothing more enjoyable to him then making her freak out. As a result, Amelia will come up to me several times a day, for no reason at all just to let me know "I am Amelia." She will stand there patiently waiting for me to agree that she is in fact Amelia. Sometimes, because I have a mean streak, I will say something like "are you sure your Amelia, or are you a butterfly." This does not make her happy. I am a little bit evil.
I am not at all adjusted to life with the boys being around 24/7. My quiet house is filled with the loudness that two boys bring to a home. This afternoon I walked into the kitchen to find Jacob forcefully shoving popcorn into Amelia's tiny mouth.
"She wouldn't stop asking me for some of my popcorn so I decided to give her a lot."
I never thought I would ever have a conversation with him about overdosing his sister on popcorn. Jacob makes things interesting around here. He keeps me on my toes.
I feel like the boys constantly want to eat. They are always hanging out by the fridge looking to scarf something down. The other day Andrew told me he was so hungry he could eat Jacobs head.
I have not made a single dinner since the departure of Mr. Braun. On Monday we walked to the local Chinese joint. Its two blocks away and Andrew begged me to drive
"but its sooooooo far." he whined
If you strain your neck in our living room you can literally see it, it's not sooooo far!
The lady working the night shift seemed pretty put out when I said "for here" instead of to go. She snatched up all but one set of chopsticks from the table saying
"I don't want them", while motioning towards the boys, "sticking these up their noses."
Andrew was pretty outraged that she implied he would stick anything up his nose. Jacob thought it was downright hilarious. Because Andrew is 8 and can basically get away with saying anything that suits him in the moment he said very matter of factly
"why would someone stick chop sticks up their nose?"
Our waitress ignored him. I was wondering the same thing. I went ahead and assumed that perhaps our waitress had witnessed an extremely traumatic chop stick nostril moment. Maybe she has been marred by the experience leaving her to flinch at the very sight of chop sticks in little boy's hands.
When our food came the boys were pretty bummed out about not being able to eat with chop sticks. They always eat Chinese food with chopsticks. That's the fun in Chinese food. I motioned the waitress over and asked her to bring two more sets of chop sticks. She was annoyed and let out a irratated sigh.
I didn't care. I was glad that I was assertive enough to ask because I never am. Normally I would have just let her go on believing that all little boys shove chopsticks up their noses. Maybe I taught her a valuable lesson!
I only have one more day as a single parent. I'm looking forward to Aaron being back home so I can regain my sanity!
My little knuckle heads:
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